Popular Mexican Steakhouse Expands to Seattle Proper

Great news, Ballard: you're getting a Mexican restaurant! Okay, so maybe you've already got a few of Seattle's best Mexican restaurants, but Asadero Sinaloa's expansion promises to bring a new type of Mexican fare to the area — food from the northern region.

"This is something Ballard doesn't have so far," co-owner David Orozco says. "In Mexico, asaderos do parrilladas —€” mixed grill, in English —€” and steaks. It's the Mexican version of a steakhouse, with handmade flour tortillas, fire-roasted and stone ground salsas, with the star being Sonoran beef. It's famous as the best beef in Mexico. At Asadero Sinaloa, we use USDA Prime beef, which makes us the only Mexican prime house in the Northwest."

If all goes right with permitting and approval, Orozco is looking to open the restaurant in late June in a vacant Leary space, formerly home to Zayda Buddy's.

The exterior of Asadero Sinaloa's Ballard expansion: "El Norte is coming soon." [Photo: Courtesy of Asadero SInaloa]

Asadero Sinaloa already has a great reputation in Kent for its first location, where Orozco says customers come from far north and south to get a taste. "We have people from Ballard driving all the way south to eat at our place, and they kept asking us to open a second location. Customers from Snohomish asked us to come north, too. So, Ballard is halfway for them," he adds.

With such a great response to the wood-fired meat, served in generous helpings piled over roasted peppers and fresh-made tortillas, Orozco started putting out feelers. "We came upon the Zayda's space and the landlord was very excited to support our project, and gave us a good opportunity to expand," Orozco says.

Like at the Kent restaurant, the focus here will be on expertly prepared meat dishes — "We plan to remain very asadero-oriented," Orozco promises — but this location will also utilize the bigger space and larger kitchen to branch out into Sinaloan seafood dishes.

A full bar will also go in, and opening hours ranging from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. will cover lunch and dinner. The space will have a capacity of 90 guests. The Kent eatery occasionally hosts live music; that's a possibility in Ballard, as well.

And as for the competition — Señor Moose across the street, newly opened Gracia around the corner, and La Carta de Oaxaca just down Ballard Ave. — Orozco says he's only a little bit worried about his soon-to-be neighbors. Still, he says, wise Mexican food eaters should be able to enjoy each of these spots for different dishes and flavors.

"We are all very different concepts with different menus, and different regional food as well. Ballard would be the only place in Seattle that offers food from southern (Carta de Oaxaca, Gracia), central (Señor Moose), and northern (Asadero Sinaloa) regions."

Ballard as Little Mexico? This former Scandinavian fishing village has never tasted so good.

Asadero Sinaloa Norte will be located at 5405 Leary Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107, open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.